July '08

July 08


Full Brick Jacket & When it Rains, it Pours
So there’s a reason I haven’t blogged much about my workouts since Buffalo Springs Half.
There have been none. Ok, that’s a lie, you’re right. I did do a 12 mile bike ride about three weeks ago.
Well, have no fear. I have a race in like, a week and a half, so I’m in full on cram-as-much-training-as-you-can-even-though-you-reap-nearly-no-bennefits training mode. And what better way to kick that off than with a full swim-bike-run brick at Shawnee Mission Park.

Julie, Alyson, Jmoore and myself met up at the beach for a little swimmy swim. This was Jmoore’s and AP’s first open water outing. And, I’m pretty sure that Julie hadn’t swam or rode her bike since the Heritage Park tri in May (Ok, so she and I may have some residual Ironman burnout going on). I was most surprised with Alyson’s swimming. She’s been hitting the gym pretty regularly and making some laps in the pool, and it’s paying off. Jmoore’s learning curve is a little more steep, but she hasn’t be training all summer. A few pool sessions and maybe another SMP workout is in order for her. She keeps moving though which is the most important task, well, besides not drowning.

The SMP swim course is shorter than last year. I couldn’t tell by how much but I timed a couple laps. They were 3:08 and 3:12, respectively. I felt like I was swimming somewhere near a pace of 1:25. I guessed the triangular course to be around 225 yards. So, that should be about right.

Then we went to the bikes. After a “quick” transition (read: I was moving at turtle speed) the four of us took to the road. Alyson borrowed a friend’s (Hi Corey!) super sweet Specialized Tarmac Elite, and passed on the road-slicked mountain bike to Jmoore. Right away I could tell the Alyson was ON IT. Julie stayed back with Jennifer for a while- this was the first time she’d been on the road, and on that bike- and Alyson and I motored on ahead. I was trying to do teaching of road rider etiquette. There were a lot of presumably “newbie” gals out training for the KC Women’s race. However, they were bunched up a head of us riding four or five abreast. For those familiar with SMP it was at the top of the long Damn Dam Hill where you make the sharp left descent. There were cars back, and I repeated yelled it. “Car Back.” Nothing. “Girls, there’s a car back.” It went whirring by passing in the oncoming lane. Then again another came up, faster this time, “CAR BACK!” Someone yelled “What?” and I lost it. They were all within ear shot, but I was tired of yelling and I’d rather be a bitch then see someone die. “Move THE PHUCK OVER!” Finally, they did, just before the car up and the car back met. Jebus! I know, not my proudest moment, but come on now (Flashback May 2006: Dawn keeping me from getting hit by car)! A club mate of mine was coming from the opposite direction and started laughing in agreement.

Anyway, I’m super impressed with Alyson’s bike skills. She’s also a daredevil like me. Aero, and pedaling. Eff you curves on the downhills. After we finished our loop she and I head back to pick up JMoore, and Julie cruised on home. Surprisingly, Jennifer wasn’t very far behind us at all. I was pretty impressed.

Then after our singular loop, Alygator wanted to run. I put up a hissy fit, but she won. I agreed to a whole 10 minutes. At the five min turnaround I found something that I had always wanted to try at SMP. The single track trails.

Single. Track. Trails. Oh, how I adore you. I feel like I’m going to fast. I’m not listening to my feet. I’m paying attention to the ground. I have to jump. Sometimes stumble. You’re muddy and you’re rocky and you’re twisty and uneven. Will you marry me?

So, we ventured on for close to a mile. Uphill. Alyson and I played Marco Polo with a very bad Polo not too far back. We stopped and waited at the sign then turned around, all three stooges intact. We laughed and giggled and traded “watch out” and “rock” calls back down. I never wanted out. Had I water and a flashlight, I’d have stayed all night, even in the pouring rain. I cannot wait to go back!

We completed our workout with a little chat on bike etiquette, passing, and such. They’re gonna do great.




Speaking of pouring rain…

My roof has a bit of a, um, leak. It turned my kitchen into a kiddie pool. Damn you roof, damn you ceiling. Eric had an early flight out so I am left to fend for myself. Eric was actually taking a better disposition on it than I thought he would. He even used words “out of my control” and “will have to be fixed” and “it happens” (I swear! Smashley was with him to verify!) even after he was the person to find the pool. So I called my daddy and told him of the cluster. He was superhero of the day. Well, he checked it out and said that we could do a temporary fix, then when Merp gets home the two of them will have a little demolition and reconstruction project to handle. Yikes!
posted @ 7/30/2008 11:56:07 AM (0) Comments
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
It's a Freaking Video Game, People!
Feminists cry foul over Fat Princess
Does Sony's cartoony castle game cross the line?
By Ben Silverman

She's plump, powerful and ready to cause more controversy than "SuperSize Me."
She's Fat Princess, the star of Sony's upcoming video game of the same name. Debuting at last week's E3 expo, the colorful Fat Princess is a capture-the-flag game with a twist: you can thwart capture attempts by locking the once-thin princess in a dungeon and stuffing her full of cake, thereby increasing her girth and making her harder for your enemies to haul back to home base.
According to popular gaming blog Joystiq, two feminist gaming sites have already voiced their displeasure with the weighty issue.

VIEW SCREENS
Feminist Gamer's "Mighty Ponygirl" rings in diplomatically, suggesting a new way to play the game altogether.
"Instead of running out into the forest to find cake to fatten up the princess with, why not go out and find gold (which is a lot heavier than cake) to stuff into a treasure chest. The more gold in the chest, the heavier it would be, and the harder it would be to carry," she said, before adding, "Oh, but that's not as "cute" as cake and fat chicks. Right."
Over at Shakesville, however, writer Melissa McEwan cuts to the chase, telling Sony she's "positively thrilled to see such unyielding dedication to creating a new generation of fat-hating, heteronormative ---holes."
Sony has yet to issue an official response, although Joystiq did receive a particularly informative update from James Green, Fat Princess' lead art director, who clued gamers in on the origins of the game:
"Does it make it better or worse that the concept artist (who designed the look, characters, everything) is a girl?"
Hmmm...hope the game's detractors don't mind eating a bit of crow.

http://videogames.yahoo.com/feature/feminists-cry-foul-over-fat-princess/1232315
posted @ 7/29/2008 7:33:51 AM (0) Comments
Friday, July 25, 2008
US Olympic Swimmer Tests Positive
Crap! I hope this is an error. Also, I hope that the error doesn't affect Jessica Hardy's attempt at a medal. How heart breaking for her. I hope for her sake, she's clean, and this is appealed and resolved quickly.
http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/swimming/news?slug=ap-swm-hardy-doping&prov=ap&type=lgns
LOS ANGELES (AP)—Jessica Hardy’s first trip to the Olympics could be over before it began. The swimmer tested positive for a banned substance, leaving her just two weeks to pursue any appeals before the Beijing Games.
Hardy’s “A” sample from the recent U.S. Olympic trials tested positive, a person familiar with the test results told The Associated Press on Wednesday night. The person, who requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the banned substance was a stimulant but did not provide any other details.
In Beijing, Hardy was expected to be a medal threat in the 100-meter breaststroke, and to play an important part on the U.S. 400-meter free relay team, and possibly the 400 medley relay.
USA Swimming spokeswoman Jamie Olson declined to comment from the team’s training camp at Palo Alto, Calif., where Hardy left to return to her family’s home in Southern California, the swimmer’s agent said.
posted @ 7/25/2008 6:06:25 AM (0) Comments
Thursday, July 24, 2008
I'm Still Alive!!! Honest! No, Really!
Wait? I have a blog? Oh crap, I better say something then.

No, I have not dropped off the planet, but it sure seems like it. Things have gotten pretty hectic with my work, Eric’s businesses, his travel, my travel, joint travel, family outings, some attempts at training, this wedding planning crap, sick dogs… ok, ok, I’m done.

I have made the executive decision however, that I’m going to switch to the Half Marathon at KC instead of the full. I really, really wanted to do the full. However, it’s two weeks from our wedding date. As is, I’m having a hard time getting in full workouts, if I get to them at all. On the schedule for next week is nearly 35 miles of logged running. Of course it just goes up from there. So, I’m going to reduce my risk of injury, oh, and keep my sanity, and cut back to the half. This way, I can continue to be active, do some training, focus on some speed work, and really enjoy. Come hell or high water, I can do 13.1 if I had to log roll it. So, that’s the plan, Stan.

This week I’m doing some home repairs. Repairs for what? Well, for shit I broke. Like, our kitchen’s ceiling fan. Don’t. Even. Ask. Also, I’m doing some mowing, hopefully stripping the deck (again- Eric had a friend come over and stain it. The deck wasn’t fully stripped, and the stain.. well, it’s barn yard red, not exactly the “red wood” color we were hoping for. So, it’s half way done, which means 2.5 times the amount of work for me.), deep cleaning the guest bath, and maybe even finishing addressing wedding invites.

Last night I went to Home Depot to get the fan blade arms I needed. Of course, they come in a pack of 5 when I need 2. And they come in brushed, not plated. And they’re the wrong size. None of this did I note until it came time for me to stand on the tippy top of the ladder with a four inch Phillips screwdriver, the 5 said fan blades, and 10 tiny screws.

I apologize if any of you heard my expletives echo off the mountain tops.

Today I make trip number two to HD. Also, HD is like the Bermuda triangle. I can never go in and come out with the ONE thing I have on my list. I avoid WalMart, Target, and Best Buy for these reasons, as well, but Home Depot makes the biggest dent in my wallet.

Speaking of wallet- who wants to give me money? You? Great, because, well, I went $500 over our budget for our honeymoon. But but but… we only get to go once, right? I mean, I got the room Merple wanted, and the number of nights Merple wanted, and he told me to do what I wanted… (I’m trying to push this on him, can you tell?)

Along the lines of wedding chit, I have officially started to have some loose screws. I started to get teary eyed at Hobby Lobby when they didn’t have the correct pattern of tulle in the right color. I may or may not have taken my aggression out on a defenseless watermelon- and subsequently thru a cutting board and some of my counter top in one fell swoop. And then there’s the trashcan and fan incident.

I wrote my mom an email the other day. I was suggesting that she and I do the blocking of rooms this week. Instead, this is how it turned out:

Hey Momma-

We need to do the hotel blocking/ reserving thing. Actually, forgot the we. Can YOU please do it? I don’t want to think about it. You pick it out and tell me about it when it's done. Yes, I've reached that point already. :)

Thank you.

love, sis


Seriously, ask her.

I have also decided that Merple’s BlackBerry must die. I know, I really appreciate all of the business and clients, but if that phone rings one more time when I’m in that mood (Meaning the pyschobridezilla mood- it is not the same as the mood and it counts during that, too.) his little two-way is gonna meet the bottom of the tires of our brand spanking new pickup and the fresh asphalt in front of our house.

Oh yeah, “we” got a new truck last week. It went something like this:

Merp: Hey honey my truck’s acting funny.
Me: That sucks what are we gonna do about it.
Merp: I dunno I don’t want to pay to fix it.
Me: Ok, we’ll talk about it at home tonight.

- a few hours go by -

Merp: Hey baby, I got us a new truck.
Me: ::sigh::


Next up, the KC Women’s Tri. My best friend is doing this as her first triathlon. I’ll be “participating” versus doing much racing (see my training mentioned, or lack there of).

posted @ 7/24/2008 8:49:31 AM (0) Comments
Friday, July 18, 2008
Yay!
First off, Congrats DAN & JULIE to selling your home in 3 days! It looks great, and I'm glad it sold at a reasonable price, and I'm glad the buyer I was rooting for got it!

As far as weekend plans go...
Tonight I go home, tan, clean house and change, then go to P&L for Bowling. One of FI's friends is a freestyle motocross guy and he's in town staying with us. Well, he's doing a demo tomorrow out at the wakeboard cable park.Yesterday he was on the radio- there were people calling in to win tickets to "go bowling with cowboy kenny" so, tonight we're going bowling. tomorrow morning i'm hoping to sleep in a bit, run (um, I'm supposed to go 14-16, but I dont see it happening), maybe get a pedi done. Go to cable park, consider wakeboarding, or just hang out, then go get my spur of the moment b-pics done (thanks shonna), THEN, it's on to the Monster truck rally (lol, I know) and motocross race in good old Grain Valley, Mizuruh. I'm pretty sure saturday night will end with a trip to WT or Dallas. Cowboy boots, be ready. Anyone that wants to join in at all is welcome to do so.
posted @ 7/18/2008 11:01:57 AM (0) Comments
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Shameless Self Promotion: Courtney and New York Times

So last week I eluded that I had a secret about something interesting, but couldn’t share. Well, now I can.

I was recently contacted by Christie Aschwanden, a writer for the New York Times, about doing a brief interview on Ironman and Ironman Tattoos. I was super excited and agreed, duh! Well, we played phone tag for a while, but today we got the job done!

It sounds like she’s taked to a few people and is doing a pretty cool write up. I got to talk about Ironman, signing up, getting tattoo’ed, and having Julie do it all with me. She even asked if we had pictures of our tattoo’s together (of course). They may or may not send someone out for pictures, or request some, but she said that was totally up to the art department.

Christie said she would give me a heads up on when it will run, but it will be in a Fitness Feature article, and will likely run sometime around August 7th, or the first week in August.

I’ll keep you all posted!!!
posted @ 7/15/2008 2:32:01 PM (0) Comments
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Me, Crazy?
I was just called a "Pyscho Health Freak" by a woman in my office. She asked me what I was making while standing in front of the fridge. I told her I had a smart ones frozen lunch thing (eh, it works), and some edemame. She actually said "Eddie whatie?" I was like, "Edemame, ya know, soy beans in a pod. Boiled in salt water... " and she goes, "I can't imgagine ever being a pyscho health freak like you." and drizzled mayo and ketchup into cups to go with her carry out winsteads. I was actually offended. I wanted to say, "I can't imagine not giving a damn about my body and not wanting to take care of it." but, alas, I did not. UGH! People can be really rude!
posted @ 7/15/2008 2:24:49 PM (0) Comments
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Better Recognize!
So, I just got an email from from Kurt, the director of marketing from one of my FABULOUS sponsors, Fluid. I made their blog. Saaa-wweet!
Check it out here: http://www.livefluid.blogspot.com/
Thanks for your support, FLUID!
posted @ 7/10/2008 8:01:35 AM (0) Comments
Thursday, July 10, 2008
OOPS! I deleted it!
I accidentally deleted yesterday's post, so here it is. Again.

Wednesday, July 09, 2008
Well, I'll Be!...

So, I was just told congrats on being the featured Loop'd Athlete. I had no idea!
YAY! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone reading this blog! It's nice to know I'm not just tipper-tap-tapping along to myself. On that same note, I have 33,940 views as of my last refresh. On Jan 2 of 2008 I broke 10,000 views, if I remember correctly.
Because of you, I have had nearly 14,000 views in a little over 6 months. WOW! Its an honor that many people find me interesting (or there could just be a couple regular viewers, DAD, that refresh my page every 10 seconds.. ugh Laawwrd. I hope not)!
Also, I recieved a very very very intersting email today, but I'm not sure yet how or if it's gonna happen. A girl's gotta hold on to some secrets!
On another note- myself and few of my bridesmaids, along with help from my mom, have nearly finished the addressing, cutting, packaging, stamping, and organizing of wedding invites. Ok, so nearly actually means, that I have done about one third of it, but I'm getting there.
In more wedding news, I FINALLY scheduled a time to meet with a travel agent. Eric's still stuck on a cruise, but by the time everything is priced out, I think that the all inclusive resorts are the way to go. Either way, if he didn't get his passport stuff sent today we won't be going anywhere. .. Wait, scratch that, HE won't be going anywhere. A passport holding gal pal and I will be sitting pretty getting served Red Stripe while being fed sliced pineapple and fanned by two very tan young men named Escoban and Fernando... ok, maybe it's best if Eric doesn't go. Kidding. Mostly. I think.
posted @ 7/10/2008 7:51:15 AM (0) Comments
Thursday, July 10, 2008
MX: Maintaining Fitness (& Sanity) at Amatuer Nationals
I post everyweek or so on a motocross chat board. Usually it's in regards to training and nutrition tips to help out racers and their families. There's a huge cross-training bennefit that motocross racers can get from other sports, one of which I consider myself to be quite knowledgable in. I thought I'd share this week's tips here.


A lot of us have “Been There, Raced That,” or “Are Going There, Racing That,” and even more “Can’t Get Away From It.” What is IT? We’re talking Amateur Nationals here, folks. It’s where the best from the country, and a few from around the globe come to spend two (or more if you’re early parking!) very precious weeks with their families and the amateur racing community. These riders are the best. The crème de la crème, paramount, preeminent, unsurpassed… okay okay, you get it. These kids, and in many cases, big kids, have (hopefully) trained and raced their hearts out to make it to that 40 rider start gate. They’ve out rode countless others paid their, and their parents have paid, dues. So, all these months of riding and training now come to fruition. How do you hold onto that fitness? What do you do to stay calm? How do you get the most out of your time at track?Here’s how. 1. Don’t start training when you arrive at the entry gate. You cannot get any fitness gains in a 10 day window prior to an event (excluding heat/ humidity acclimatization). How many times have you seen Johnny Gofast and Kelly Quadruple out running the morning of their motos? Guess what. If you don’t have fitness now, you’re not going to get it the hour, day, or even WEEK before your race. Hopefully, these racers are doing an easy jog on an off day, or, are warming up prior to their moto (within an hr of their race).2. Warm up, even in the heat. Factory semis have stationary bikes under them. Riders are on them before EVERY moto elevating their heart rates. Why do this? You body needs to adjust, and be ready. Think of it at going for a 3 mile run. When from a dead start, the first few minutes always feel the most difficult, until you’ve adjusted to your heart rate and the intensity. This is the same thing a racer feels. How often do you feel you’re riding your fastest during the first lap? Give your body a chance to “get the blood flowing” and be at your maximum potential when the card turns sideways. In the 30 minute moto, you will lose precious seconds (and positions) if you’re taking 10 minutes to get warmed up and up to race speed. 3. STRETCH. Do this only after a proper warm up. It helps prohibit injury. Do this on off days as well. See number 4. 4. Don’t sit around eating cheetos and waiting mom’s steak and potato dinner (Yes, I believe at LL’s a couple years ago my mom cooked steak a couple nights in a row. Ahh, those were the days…). Active recovery is the best recovery. This doesn’t mean riding ‘fiddies thru WalMart, ::cough not like I did that:: terrorizing the servers at Golden Corral, or running around like an Acapulco Cliff Diver from cliff to tree. Yes, you are to conserve your energy. However, to avoid any tightness and stiffness, do a little something. Preferably, something you have done in training. Example, an easy bike ride or jog. No more than 20 minutes. This will help your body stay accustomed to the heat, and loosen up the muscles. Then stretch (number 3) and find a shady tree to sit under (see number 5). Have mom or that trophy girlfriend rub your ARMS and quadriceps and other muscles that experience fatigue. 5. REST. Yes, I said above to actively recovery and warm up. However, that’s IT. If you want to watch some motos, great. Take a lawn chair. There’s a great stretch of trees right along mechanic’s row at LL’s to sit under. Drink water. Or, at Ponca, grab an umbrella, a chair, an iPod and some Gatorade from the concession stand. Do nothing. 6. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. Alternate your preferred sports drink and water. Your pee should be close to clear, and shouldn’t smell. I know you’re not eating asparagus, so you haven’t an excuse. 7. Don’t sit in an air conditioned RV all day. Yes, relax, nap if you can, but remember, heat acclimatization disappears very quickly. Spend a little time in the heat, but don’t do anything. 8. Visualize. Rehearse your motos in your head. Think about each moto, the bike you ride, your lines, how you go around other racers. Don’t have the perfect race in your head. What if you fall in a corner? Visualize yourself calmly picking your bike up, starting it, and getting back on the gas. Keep your goal in mind. What if the moto isn’t perfect? Remember to still complete your goal. It should sound something like this: “My bike is tuned perfect thanks to dad. This concrete start is nothing. I’ve practiced it. Hey check it out, I got a wholeshot. I’m going so fast thru this sweeper, uh-oh, Jimmy Alberston just passed me. .. I’m going to get him back. I can ride this lap behind him. WoW! These tunnels are fun. Do you hear that? Yeah, that’s my bike. It’s sweet. Okay, thru this rut I go, that was a great line… here I come, I’m passing Jimmy, Oh!! I just stole his line. Perfect clean pass! YES! I can feel my body position and I’m comfortable and relaxed. Look at that! I just won my first moto (or got 5th or mad my lap time goals or whatever your goal is).” Walk the track. Rehearse the moto in your head while sitting on your bike if possible. Do this at least TWICE a day! Parents, talk your kid thru his or her race. Have them close their eyes. Mental imagery is half the race. 9. Don’t try anything new. It’s not the time to check out sushi, or see if you can swim 40 laps in the pool. Stick to a rehearsed and well arranged game plan. Bed time, wake up, dinner, all of these things should be on a constant schedule. 10. Enjoy being there. Soak it up while sitting in the shade. If you’re relaxed you’ll ride relaxed. Adversely, parents, if you’re high strung and freaking it will reflect on your rider. Best of luck to everyone. I’m looking forward to excellent results!
posted @ 7/10/2008 7:48:53 AM (0) Comments
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
The Rest of the Story: BSLT 70.3 Cont'd
The Rest of the Story: BSLT 70.3 Cont'd

The Day Before

My dad is the only person I know that gets up before I do. And he does it Every. Single. Day. Somehow, we both slept until about 7 am. We grabbed some continental breakfast (bagel, PB, banana), and set out on a shopping excursion, aka Wal-Mart. After a few more errands we went to the race venue.
Wow! So pretty yet so.. um.. Whiskey Tango
Texas Style. We drove around the lake/ race venue. It’s in the bottom of this cool canyon. Right next to it is RansomCanyon (Wow. These houses are awesome.. they’re super expensive and even super crazy- one made of cobble stone and there’s even one made out of steel!!!!).

Dad found a shady place to park, and I got out Goldmember to check out the first couple climbs on the bike. Wow. They’re doozies, but nothing like Wildflower. However, I didn’t realize until the first big descent that I forgot to close my front quick release. AHH NO BRAKE! Scary.

After I rode for a bit I went down to the lake and swam around. I was trying hard to decide if the lake would be warm enough to swim in without a wetsuit. I’m trying to not do much harm on my shoulders, and a wetsuit (full sleeved) is tough, coupled with over heating at KS 70.3 I didn’t want to risk it. The water was for sure a little chilly in spots- it’s a spring fed lake- but I actually was guessing the temp to about around 78 or 80. It would be a close call on wetsuits for everyone. The air temp was hovering in the low to mid 90’s.

We drove a good portion of the bike, and was marveled at the canyons, and the climbs, subsequent descent, and squids. Dad named the road hazard paint markings squids because, well, they looked like orange spray paint squids!

We went back to the hotel were I met another triathlete that needed a ride to the expo. She said her husband was off visiting “old people” so I said we would give her a lift there (she isn’t American born, so she had some odd way of wording things). Dad and I ate, then I napped and met up with the lady we were driving to the expo (crap, I can’t remember her name!). Dad dropped us off and we sat thru the usual boring “Do this, don’t do that” speech. There were Native American dancers there, but I was sitting at the back and couldn’t see them. :( When it was over the gal’s husband had showed up, so dad picked me up and we went for dinner- the traditional pre half ironman dinner that is- breakfast! Nothing like IHOP!

After dinner Dad watched the nervousness that is the Transistion Bag. I unpacked, packed, unpacked, and repacked. I believe he mentioned I was something along the lines of neurotic and anal. He also said that he watched two women time each other on how long it took to take their wetsuits off. Oh for Jebus’ Sake! THAT’s neurotic.

I climbed in bed around 8:30pm and turned the lights off about 9:00pm (after watching a split decision UFC fight- wow!).



Race Day!

4:00am came bright and early, but we were out of the hotel and headed to the race at 4:30am. The weather was the exact opposite of the previous days- cloudy, windy, and in the low 60’s! I cam to BSLT expecting heat, winds, and glaring sun.

Dad and I walked down the big hill to the TA and I got my stuff set up. I talked a bit to the girl next to me, and then found Dad to hang out before the race start. It was so chilly and windy, we huddled under an umbrella to block the breeze! I began to question my decision to race sans wetsuit, but Dad told me to stick to my game plan. That was a good call, because when I entered the water, I realized that the 77 degrees they claimed the lake was, actually felt like low 80’s when compared to the air. I warmed up and felt good. I knew I could have a good swim.

Swim 31:40 (2nd best swim time- and the 1st was probably a short course)

The pros scouted that you can actually run along the shore for about 200 yards before you actually have to start swimming. This seemed to work well for most of my wave. But, since it was comprised of all Clydes and Athenas, I wasn’t willing to get kicked in the head by one of the big boys to save 15 seconds of swimming. So, I ran a short distance then dove in. My wave was the last of all the waves, which meant I started passing folks early on. This is by far one of the coolest swim courses ever. It’s pretty much just a good portion of shoreline, and then you cross the lake twice. The water is murky, but that’s like the Midwest so I felt right at home. The neat thing is the TA is set up on a peninsula. The swim start is on the left of it, and the swim is counter clockwise around to the other side! Very cool.

T1 2:23

I think everyone knows by now I don’t rush at the TA in half distance races. I want to make sure I have everything- especially my race belt- it must be worn on the bike here! I was 30 sec slower than Kansas, though.

Bike 3:52.31

Ya, I know, almost 4 hrs, WTF. Well, I’m going to get to that.

Right out of the TA there’s a step, but fairly short climb. But it’s NOTHING like Lynch at Wildflower, and I knew if I could do that totally out of shape, I could handle this one fine. It wasn’t a breeze, but I was able to spin up it and not die. Then there’s a flat over a bridge after the decent, then you climb again- up, up, outta the canyon.

You roll along inside the park/ canyon area until you hit 50th St., I believe. That’s when you get blasted by the “hairdryer.” But, it wasn’t hot, so it was just WINDY. I kept looking in the direction of the canyons we needed to ride thru, and you could see the rain sheets coming down. Gulp. First it started as a sprinkle, then a pretty good shower. Luckily for the faster folks in the early heats, they didn’t have to deal with it too much.

If you can see the diagram, then you can tell, this bike course is no joke. But, the spiral staircase climbs on the canyon roads weren’t as bad as I was expecting. I was able to spin up them and never felt like I was going to die. I don’t know what my HR was, since it did die before the start of the race. In comparison, here is the Kansas elevation. I rode that in 3:44, and had only some wind.












People biffed it all over the place- and it seems that there was never a single downed rider, but always at least a trio. Even in a few flats. How’s that possible? Wet roads, pack riding and drafting= crashing. I would like to commend the USAT officials though- there were so many and it really looked like they were paying attention to the draft packs. Yay!

For a while on the bike I had to pee, and kept trying to relax myself. I eventually gave up and stopped at the nearest port-a-potty, which, had a sign that read “Check for rattle snakes!!” posted on it. Oh, yay!

The end of the bike was pretty pleasant, except for seeing so many people out on the run already. Ugh! I hate being slow and starting the in the last wave! And, the worst climb, an 8.9% grade is saved for the very end. Ah, sweet irony.

T2 2:41

This is slower than it should have been- the TA was a bit of a cluster, and I saw Joanna Zieger bawling in the TA after just finishing second. Strange. Ouch! The rocks hurt my bare feet.
Run 2:56.55

Alas, I don’t have a KS run to compare this to. According to my 6.5 mile split, however, I was on pace to a 3:06. So, I guess this is slightly better, considering the MUCH more difficult course.

I am very happy to report that I had no stomach issues whatsoever like KS. I felt really pretty good, no complaints. It’s a tough run with some BIG hills. I walked the aide stations, and the monster hills, and ran everything else. Aside from walking the big hills I really felt like I was cruising right along, and kept counting my cadence. I felt the strongest in the “Energy Lab II”- an out and back to the turn around on false flats that goes right by a power plant, super similar to Kona. You could see the turn around and it was So. Far. Away. But the time passed quickly with the help of great volunteers at ALL of the aid stations. While the time is pretty slow, it’s all relative to the course. Also, I really haven’t ran much over 9 miles this season, so it was good to know that my legs still felt pretty snappy. I did have some tightness in my back, similar to at Wildflower. I talked to Nancy about it, and I’m pretty sure it’s from holding on for dear life in the wind, and the big climbs.

Overall: 7:26.14 This is my 2nd fastest HIM time and almost an hr off my best. However, like I said, it’s all relative, and if I had been allowed to finish at KS I think I would have been somewhere in the 7:20 range there too, and that was a less challenging course.

I’m really super happy with my results, and had one of the best race trips EVER with my dad!

PS- I WON the Athena division. Even though I didn’t have a super fast day, the other girls didn’t either. So, I got a groovy Buffalo Trophy. His name is Beefy.






Thanks:

Dad, TriSports.com, Fluid, Tropical Xtreme Tanz, H2O Audio, Motortabs, and Freeride Bike & Skate!!

posted @ 7/2/2008 2:06:05 PM (0) Comments
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Getting There
Buffalo SpringsLake Triathlon 70.3 Race Recap
June 29, 2008


Forgive me if I type this scatterbrained. I am currently “working” and watch the Swimming Olympic trials—ah, how I wish I could still be swimming, and swimming like these kids! Wow!

Ok, on to the race!


Getting There

I met my dad at my parent’s house about 6:30 Friday morning. We gathered up my gear, stored it in the mini van, later appropriately named, The Space Shuttle. We then began our journey. Dad drove for the first 30 minutes, then I took over for the next 4 hours or so. When we stopped for Subway (“behind the Braum’s on the same road as McDonald’s,” according to the locals, which proved to be located near neither) south of Perry, OK, Dad took back over for good. Meanwhile, the temperature was climbing from the 72 of Kansas City, to well over 100 just south of Oklahoma City. The thermometer eventually topped out somewhere around 104 degrees around Dickens, Tx.
Around 7:00 PM we pulled into Lubbock to find our hotel. We had planned to stay at the Lubbock Regency. Regency, sounds nice, right? Well, when we pull in it appeared that we were staying in little Mexico. It was “remodeled” and was cheesy as can be. Ok, fine, whatever, it’s a bed. We get to our room. Dad plops down on his bed and I start pulling the covers off of mine. He asked what I was doing, and I told him I was checking for critters. Low and behold, there’s some kind of weird flea bug thing! We promptly requested a refund and found our way to the expo center.

I got checked in for the race and wandered the expo. Then, we went in search of a hotel. Four later we finally found a place, that was, altogether, pretty darn decent. Except, for the spider I found on my bed. Whatever, I can handle spiders.

We had some delish dinner at the Outback (Pasta and Shrimp, my favorite!), then went back to the hotel for some much needed sleepy time.
Continuing later... (ugh, work, getting in the way!)
posted @ 7/1/2008 12:27:35 PM (0) Comments